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18 September 2012

Posted on Sep 19, 2012

MormonVoices statement re anti-Islam movie

September 18, 2012

MormonVoices

MormonVoices strongly condemns the recent violence in Egypt, Libya, and several other countries that has been attributed to anger at the anti-Islam movie “Innocence of Muslims.” All people share a basic responsibility to respond humanely and rationally to ideas that conflict with their own. Respect for religious belief and freedom of speech are cornerstones of a just society. Violent retaliation against mere words and film is contrary to human decency and the teachings of revered religious leaders.

Religious intolerance that belittles, mocks, misrepresents, or disrespects the deeply-held beliefs and sacred tenets of others is unbecoming and counterproductive. Mormons regularly face such ideological attacks, and have specifically endured misinformation published by some of the same individuals behind “Innocence of Muslims.” Though the law may protect their right to so speak, they fail a higher moral responsibility by doing so. We encourage everyone to learn about the details of unfamiliar religions from respected, fair, and non-sensational sources.

Critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are often quick to jump forward with any and all criticisms that they believe might prove the undoing of the testimony of our members. It is not uncommon to see the proverbial “shotgun” approach of bombarding individuals who are young in the gospel with a barrage of information that all seems damning on the surface.

Just as with birdshot that only requires a single pellet to bring down a flying bird, such an approach relies upon the notion that with so many things being claimed, that if only a few – or even one – were proven true, then the Church cannot be true!

Such tactics, also referred to as the “spaghetti” method of “throw it and see what sticks,” do not require depth of thought, or for that matter, even truth or context. It relies exclusively on the notion that if you throw enough at someone, they may just give up under the burden of fending off the attacks.

In rural Missouri, Mormons see Adam’s fall after Garden of Eden and Jesus’ return

September 18, 2012

Washington Post

Jose Rangel got out of his minivan and stretched before helping his elderly mother from the passenger seat. Rangel’s wife and children spilled out of the side door into the manicured parking lot. What could be a scene from any American family’s summer visit to a state park was actually a spiritual pilgrimage. The Rangels were at Adam-ondi-Ahman, a mysterious plot of land 70 miles north of Kansas City that is owned and maintained as a sacred site by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“This place is very important to the church,” said Rangel, who had brought his mother to the site while she was visiting from Mexico. “When Jesus Christ comes for the second time, this is where he’s going to come.”

Evangelical Christians have long regarded Mormonism with suspicion. But many evangelicals are now trying to reconcile supporting a Mormon candidate for president while rejecting the teachings of his faith’s 19th century American prophet, Joseph Smith Jr.

“Joseph Smith had 34 wives, 11 of whom were currently married to other men when he took them as wives!” says Rob Sivulka, who goes for the jugular in his polemic outside the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Mormons and Catholics don’t see eye to eye on theology, but they stand “shoulder to shoulder as witnesses of Jesus Christ” in the public square, Utah’s Catholic bishop told nearly 2,000 mostly LDS students Tuesday.

The Rev. John C. Wester, speaking at an LDS Institute of Religion devotional at Utah Valley University, pointed to his presence on the Orem campus as a “wonderful sign of the ongoing collaboration between our faiths” and another “important step in interfaith relations.”

Joanna Brooks characterizes herself as a blogger who explores her faith out loud, telling hard truths about growing up as an independent thinker in the Mormon faith. In an election year when Mitt Romney’s candidacy has brought the country to its ‘Mormon moment,’ Brooks has achieved political influence of her own, landing on Politico’s “50 to Watch” list. Her memoir “The Book of Mormon Girl” traces her evolution from Marie Osmond wannabe to Brigham Young feminist.

Justin Bieber in Book Of Mormon Movie? (And What Scientology Can Learn From Mitt Romney’s Religion)

September 18, 2012

Movie Line

Parker and Stone’s fearless sense of humor permeates Book of Mormon, an energetic satire of the Mormon faith and practices including the tradition of sending young, clean-cut, and homogenized missionaries out into the world to spread the gospel and recruit new members, one doorbell at a time. Like South Park and Parker and Stone’s previous movie projects — Orgazmo and Team America: World Police, for instance — Book of Mormon turns a hilariously caustic eye toward the relentlessly chipper Mormon missionaries and the cultural chasm that exists between them and the third-world inhabitants they seek to convert.

Musician Brandon Flowers of the rock band “The Killers” had an unexpected and tense conversation about his Mormon faith with famed atheist Richard Dawkins on the Swedish talk show “Skavlan” in early September.

The host of the talk show, Fredrik Skavlan, asked Flowers, a devout Mormon, to describe the “beauty of [his] faith.” Flowers responded positively to Skavlan’s request, saying that some of the things he loves about his Mormon faith are “my mother teaching me to pray, and that I have that communication with my heavenly Father. That’s something I turn to on a daily basis.”

“There are answers to questions that my church has that also are very…it’s a beautiful thing to me, and I’m happy,” the musician added.

There are two things a lot of people know. One is that there is an epic drug war going on around the Mexican-American border. The second is that presidential candidate Mitt Romney has family roots in Mormon compounds built in the same region.

What most people haven’t put together yet is that these Mormon outposts are major thorns in the sides of drug smugglers, and as such, have been unwittingly drug into the drug war.

Vice Magazine sent a film crew to Ciudad Juarez to investigate the conflict for a seven-part video series.

On a mission to Mexico, veteran stakes out site that would become Mesa

September 18, 2012

Arizona Republic

Almost from the time Salt Lake City was settled in 1847, Mormons were exploring and traveling throughout Arizona on missions to the native peoples.

A longstanding goal of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President Brigham Young was to colonize into Mexico. To that end, he sent his most experienced envoy, Daniel Webster Jones, an LDS convert who fought in the Mexican-American War as a Missouri volunteer.

Jones and his party of seven began a horseback journey to Mexico from Nephi, Utah, on Sept. 10, 1875. When they reached Kanab near the Arizona border, a telegraph message from Young was waiting, instructing Jones to make a reconnaissance stop in the Salt River Valley.

Proposition 8, the controversial California ballot initiative that rolled back same-sex marriage, passed by a 52-48 percent margin in 2008 while President Obama was winning a landslide victory in America’s most populous state.

Its victory came from a late, largely unanticipated media blitz, with roots in the Mormon and Catholic churches, and featuring a TV spot in which a little girl is taught about gay marriage in her school.

MormonVoices today strongly condemned the recent violence in Egypt, Libya, and several other countries that has been attributed to anger at the anti-Islam movie “Innocence of Muslims.” John Lynch, a Managing Director of MormonVoices stated: “All people share a basic responsibility to respond humanely and rationally to ideas that conflict with their own. Respect for religious belief and freedom of speech are cornerstones of a just society. Violent retaliation against mere words and film is contrary to human decency and the teachings of revered religious leaders.”

Lynch further noted that religious intolerance that belittles, mocks, misrepresents, or disrespects the deeply-held beliefs and sacred tenets of others is unbecoming and counterproductive. He observed that Mormons regularly face such ideological attacks, and have specifically endured misinformation published by some of the same individuals behind “Innocence of Muslims.” Lynch concluded, “Though the law may protect their right to so speak, they fail a higher moral responsibility by doing so. We encourage everyone to learn about the details of unfamiliar religions from respected, fair, and non-sensational sources.”

MormonVoices today strongly condemned the recent violence in Egypt, Libya, and several other countries that has been attributed to anger at the anti-Islam movie “Innocence of Muslims.” John Lynch, a Managing Director of MormonVoices stated: “All people share a basic responsibility to respond humanely and rationally to ideas that conflict with their own. Respect for religious belief and freedom of speech are cornerstones of a just society. Violent retaliation against mere words and film is contrary to human decency and the teachings of revered religious leaders.”

Lynch further noted that religious intolerance that belittles, mocks, misrepresents, or disrespects the deeply-held beliefs and sacred tenets of others is unbecoming and counterproductive. He observed that Mormons regularly face such ideological attacks, and have specifically endured misinformation published by some of the same individuals behind “Innocence of Muslims.” Lynch concluded, “Though the law may protect their right to so speak, they fail a higher moral responsibility by doing so. We encourage everyone to learn about the details of unfamiliar religions from respected, fair, and non-sensational sources.”

NOTE: This is posted for those who are interested in keeping abreast what is being said around the world about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members. MormonVoices cannot and does not guarantee the validity or truthfulness of any information reported. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of this information lies with the reader. As all information comes from other news sources and has not been independently verified, MormonVoices cannot guarantee or be responsible for the security of links in the clipping service. MormonVoices will attempt as much as possible to exclude news articles containing strongly offensive language or which lead to offensive images, but cannot guarantee that some will not slip through.

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